By Claire Fagan, Features Editor
As the school year progresses, college application deadlines loom on the horizon. As early as October 15th, some River Hill seniors will be pressing submit on their future.
The college application process is a complicated one, with every school taking a slightly different approach. As test scores, transcripts, letters of recommendation, and essays pile up, everything can become overwhelming. Senior Isabel Marcus comments, “For the last week I’ve just been sitting, staring at blank documents. When I think about all the stuff that I have to do, I start to worry.”
Time management is critical to finish college applications—this isn’t something anyone can hurriedly fill out the night before the due date. Senior Brooke Fox mentions, “I think I did myself a favor by working on it a lot in August before school started.”
For those who weren’t quite so productive, this next month is crucial. Luckily, some seniors have lighter workloads than previous years. Many seniors have work release, so they don’t have as many classes. Additionally, seniors who have already completed their science and social studies credits don’t need to take such classes this year, which leaves more room for calmer electives. Senior Tyler Owen remarks, “For the classes and the teachers that I have, I just don’t get homework.” Isabel agrees, “My teachers are really chill, [and] they don’t assign a lot of homework.”
Other students do not have such luxuries. Taking advanced classes as a senior means some have to juggle homework and applications. Senior Preston Passamonti acknowledges, “I’m taking AP Chem and Precalc CC at the same time, which are two classes that go incredibly fast. It’s not any fault of their own because they have to. I’ve just got to keep up.”
Even without time-consuming classes to balance, college applications are difficult. Many students especially struggle with the essays. They are the one opportunity for students to show their personality and stand out from every other submission. Brooke observes, “I think I might be overstressing about that. Test scores and stuff, that’s done, I can’t change that anymore. [Essays are] the one thing I can change, so I’m trying to make it the best it can be.”
For some, these vital essays are formed from clear, manufactured strategies. Tyler explains, “If you say ‘I need to figure out my topic this day, and by the end of this time chunk I need to have my first draft done, on this day or this day I’m going to run it by someone else, and then on this day I’ll edit it,’ then it’s really just how many edited versions you want to go through.” Breaking down a process into steps makes it easier and more approachable.
For others, the essay process is unexpected; students write nothing for months, then express everything at once when inspiration sparks. This is true for Preston, who describes, “I just cold-write all my essays and then I look over them and I’m like ‘That’s kind of good.’ I’ve only had to rewrite half an essay once.”
Beyond essays, college applications are rigorous and complicated, sometimes unnecessarily so. Grace believes this is her biggest frustration with the process, elaborating, “I paid College Board money and they had the decency to show me a blank screen. So I need to ask my counselor if my SAT scores went through.” Grace later discovered that the website had glitched and not sent any colleges her SAT scores. The application system is so detailed that small, important pieces can slip through the cracks.
Some schools have different requirements and supplemental essays, increasing the difficulty of applications. Brooke states, “I think a few specific schools make it a little trickier than it has to be. Like I know I was considering adding another school to my list yesterday, and I did a little research, realized it was a pain and said ‘Okay, I’m not doing this.’”
Isabel agrees that the process is complicated, questioning, “Why isn’t it all in the same place? Why do I have to fill out two applications every single time? I wish it were easier. I have music school applications and they require different essays, and then you have to do it into the separate school form, and that’s for every single music school. I’m just kind of inconvenienced.”
Senior Elizabeth Fu desires simplicity and clarity in the college application process. Almost every college requires submissions in several websites, from different sources, with addendums that only confuse. She says, “I would just like to be able to monitor all my progress in one place… I want to have a list of stuff I need to do in one place. I don’t have that.”
Every senior struggles through college applications, but school counselors are available to advise seniors on anything and everything as they begin the journey into college. As Preston says, this process is “extensive, but that’s kind of how it has to be.” To all seniors reading, you will get through this difficulty and figure out your future in the process. You got this!